AbstractFeedback giving makes an important part in the context of higher education thesis writing, in particular, doctoral thesis writing supervision. In the past decade, European level standardization higher education policies have encouraged a pedagogy paradigm shift towards a more student-centered learning approach. Within the Nordic context of higher education, feedback giving from supervisor to student has often been studied from the perspective of the supervisor, as a small part of the overall doctoral degree program. This study uses findings from foundational pedagogy literature in the field of Nordic pedagogy studies in combination with empirical data findings from interviews, and maps elements of the doctoral thesis writing feedback system from an integral pluralism approach. The integral model of a feedback system to a doctoral thesis supervision is novel for the Nordic pedagogy literature and it is meant as complement to the current canon of literature on Nordic pedagogy.

AbstractThis chapter focuses on the Singaporean negotiation style and the practical approaches one could take when negotiating in the Singapore context. The Singaporean negotiator’s mindset, whilst individual, remains embedded in and shaped by the discourse contexts of the Singapore government (‘The Singapore Way’), and its business environment that is shaped by forces of regionalization and globalization. Singapore’s multiracial, multilingual background provides a unique business environment that together with its geolocation, places the country at the heart of an increasingly interconnected Asia and Southeast-Asia. The central theory espoused in this study is based in functional grammar that views language as a social semiotic, as a tool for semogenesis or meaning-making. Language is an inherent feature of the human faculty, where most social functions are communicated and acted upon through language-in-use, across various forms of negotiations. Semogenesis and the communication of meaning is central to successful negotiations. Taking as case examples respondents from the Singapore business community as well as prominent individuals serving in the Singapore government, this study uses language as a theory and framework of meaning-making to uncover the mind-set of the Singapore negotiator, studied in relation to the supporting contexts of the Singapore business environment. Rather than a normative, static cultural-dimensions construct approach that tends to perpetuate cultural stereotypes, this study illustrates how the complexity of interaction in the Singapore business environment generates a Singaporean approach to negotiation that is far more nuanced in nature. The empirical findings in this study illustrate how the Singapore negotiator tends towards dialogic thinking, defined as the capacity and ability to reconcile two opposing points of argumentation where both points of view might both be true and false at the same time, depending on context of application. The Singaporean negotiating style seems to reflect the ability for pluralistic thinking and taking on multiple perspectives in a single negotiation context. This pluralistic perspectivising is presented in a four-quadrant model called the Negotiation Semogenesis System based on a functional grammar approach towards a holistic framework in the study of negotiations.

Chapter 5 On the basis of the Uppsala model: Evolution of European research models and frameworks.

Abstract, chapter 5 Chapter 5 presents readers with an overview of current research frameworks and models used in the study of firm internationalization (that encompasses regionalization) processes, and illustrate an evolution of the knowledge / thought paradigm towards future applications and use of these models in future studies of organization processes in the European business environment. In particular the chapter traces the elements of the Uppsala model (UM) of firm internationalization in thought evolution, illustrating how the elements of firm internationalization might be more comprehensively and dynamically applied to the European business context.

Abstract, book “International Business is a well-established research field, in which regionalisation has recently gained significant prominence. Europe comprises marketplaces characterised by unique patterns of highly advanced economic integration. No other marketplace in the world has progressed to the same levels of harmonisation across sovereign countries and economies. European Business is a subject in its own right with its own research momentum. Contemporary research evidences that firms view Europe as a challenging, mostly – yet not entirely – mature market location. Yet this location, often seen from a multi-country perspective, is subject to complexities revealing strategic corporate strengths and weaknesses. Theory, concepts and models known from International Business hence often vary in their applicability and relevance in this business environment. This comprehensive reference volume brings together a global team of contributors to analyse and overview the key issues, themes and phenomena that affect business in Europe. With interdisciplinary perspectives, the book covers crucial themes that any European Business research needs to acknowledge, including business cultures and identity, entrepreneurship and innovation, M&A and institutional trends, European HRM, migration, climate change issues, Brexit, and more. The selection of authors, from 17 countries worldwide, reflects the international scope of this research field and its agenda. A unique resource, this book provides an essential guide to researchers, research students and scholars of business and the social sciences, as well as the informed business community.” (Suder, Riviere and Lindeque, 2019)

Chapter 6 Framing of National Image in a Climate of Socio-Political Uncertainty: A Study of IKEA and Volvo Car Corporation in Swedish and Russian News Media

Abstract The climate ripple of socio-political relations between countries can be seen to directly influence trading and international business relations. Discourse within the socio-political realms reflects in discourse within the economic realms. A common channel through which such perspectives are mediated between the political realms, corporate relations, and public opinion is the news media, both traditional and new, such as social media and Internet publishing. This chapter examines and compares how major business newspapers in Sweden, Dagens Industry (DI), and two business newspapers in Russia, Kommersant (Ъ-Газета – Коммерсантъ) and RBC (РБК) represent Sweden’s national image between 2014-2015, a period of uncertain socio-political relations between Russia and the Nordic Eurasian states, in particular, Sweden, in the process of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014.

Chapter 14 Positioning Theoretical Perspective in Academic Writing: Teaching Culture Theory in International Business Studies in the Context of Industry 4.0

Abtract A main challenge for academic writing for students at master thesis level is to find the right perspective from which to launch the argument of the thesis. In the context of international business (IB) studies, the eclectic theoretical paradigm of the field offers students myriad frameworks from which to frame their research questions. The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate how perspective in academic writing can be taught and learnt in a systematic manner. Taking the example of the teaching of culture theory in international business (IB) studies, this chapter illustrates how the deictic or “pointer” function of the pronoun system in language can be used to help perspective research position and research design.

Chapter 7 Work Engagement in the Era of Industry 4.0: Mapping Perspectives and Knowledge in E-Strategy Implementation

Abstract Understanding the human factor becomes increasingly important in technological innovation processes. To that end, different types of knowledges are needed in order to build a more engaging work environment for future productivity. This chapter brings theoretical and empirical insight into the processes of developing software tools for computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), enhanced for cross-departmental functionality in a European founded multinational enterprise (MNE). Working with the assumption that knowledges are obtained via different perspectives, the deictic function of Pronouns is applied in the Götheborg IV (G4) model. The model shows how relative perspectives can be defined and applied in a systematic manner towards an understanding of greater work engagement for future human capital productivity. Three departments with global operations in a European enterprise is studied in how they manage human capital productivity in relation to technological advancements.

Abstract Changing business environments due to the influence of technological advances have increased aware- ness amongst scholars and practitioners for a need to re-perspectivise culture beyond the normative dimensional construct. This chapter discusses the relative perspectives of culture in the dimensional and emergent theoretical frameworks. The purpose is to reconcile the two frameworks towards a ho- listic perspective of the study of culture in the field of international business studies. In illustration of how both frameworks are needed in order to understand human behaviour in the era of Industry 4.0, the processes of firm globalisation are discussed in relation to the elements of the Uppsala model and the Götheborg IV model. This chapter provides readers with a novel means of conceptualising culture beyond the dimensional construct. The model presented in this chapter can be used to help identify gaps in knowledge with regards to culture in organisation management. Practitioners are invited to apply the model supplied in this chapter to their consultative work where applicable.

Abstract Singapore ranks second after Switzerland in the Global Competitiveness Index 2015/6, placing it ahead of some advanced economies of the Nordic region. Singapore’s development model has been studied mostly from an economic perspective in specific socio-political contexts. Part of the Singapore gover- nance strategy in managing its differential (heterochronic) developmental complexity at domestic and international levels is through its national discourses. These national discourses are multileveled and targeted at different spheres of influence. This chapter brings a complementary language in interna- tional business perspective with theoretical foundations in biological evolution theory applied to state governance. It uses a four-quadrant Götheborg IV model of visualization, illustrating how Singapore’s national discourses act in dialogic complementarity, bolstering state competitiveness. It shows how state development complexity is managed in Singapore’s current vision of a Smart Nation, with its ambition of becoming a global first in future living in the global circular economy.

Chapter 11 The Götheborg IV (G4) Model and the Function of Language in the Globalization Process of the Firm: The Case of Swedish MNEs.

Abstract This chapter contributes to the theory of a firm’s globalization processes reflected in the Uppsala Globalization Process Model (UGPM). The Gotheborg IV (G4) model is introduced, mapping the knowledge zones of the UGPM in a four quadrant axis model. Using language in its meta-capacity as theory and framework of analysis the G4 model makes a distinction between the words ‘enterprise’ (Hn) and ‘subsidiary’ (H1), addressing the core features of firm globalization with geographically dispersed foreign subsidiaries and globally coordinated activities of manufacturing, sourcing and R&D capabilities. With the distinction between Hn and H1, the G4 model is able to present eight perspectives of the globalization process from interior and exterior to the enterprise and subsidiary. As method, this chapter will show how using the G4 model results in a richer analysis and findings from qualitative data. In this study Swedish top-level managers working in Asia show how they foster an organization culture of continuous learning and change that supports the MNE’s globalization efforts.

Abstract The typical feature of emergent economies is a slow, apparent transformation from being predominantly a home base of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to becoming more home markets for various firms that expand internationally. In this aspect, China differs from its Asian forerunners. Without question, the most rapid development in recent decades within East Asia and the global economy as a whole is the (re-)emergence of China. While most studies on growth strategies for multinational corporations from emerging economies come from the perspective of economic strategies in international business, this study offers a novel perspective by using visual semiotics as a framework of study and analysis of data. It uses theories of social semiotics borne of the traditions of linguistics to conduct a systematic analysis of the representations of China’s desire to go global with their automobile industry. The company in focus is China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely) in the years between 2007 to 2011, just prior to an after its acquisition of Volvo Car Corporation (VCC).

Hosted by the Norwegian Seafood Council [1] who has its headquarters in the city known as Paris of the North, Torskefiskkonferansen 2018 was held in Tromsø, Norway, on Thursday, 18 Oct. 2018 at Clarion Hotel, The Edge. An important annual event for the cod fish industry sector of Norway, this year’s working theme for the conference was “Torskefisk (Cod Fish) goes global!”. The purpose of the event was to provide a platform for the industry as well as academics to exchange knowledge and views on the continued development of the Norwegian cod fish industry and its position in global markets.

Language as heteroglot: The bridging qualities of Swedish-English (SweE) and Singapore Colloquial English (SCE) in cross-cultural working environments

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reframe the role and function of perceived “bad English” in an international business (IB) context to illustrate that “bad English” could in fact facilitate cross-cultural communication in individuals who do not have English as first language.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the Bakhtinian concept of heteroglossia as a theoretical framework. For the method of analysis, applied linguistics is used in particular through the lens of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) as discourse analysis method to analyze transcribed interview texts. Data collection is via long interviews with 33 top level managers in Swedish managed organizations in Singapore offices.

Findings

The study illustrates, through respondent interviews and discourse analysis, that perceived “bad English” could help facilitate communication across cultures in a cross-cultural working context. The study also shows how different individuals, depending on personal experience and cultural background, employ different means to navigate and manage language differences at work. Continue reading “New publication, Oct 2018”→

The 28th annual RESER (European Association for REsearch on SERvices) conference took place this year from 20 to 22 Sep. in Gothenburg, Sweden. We had a total of 87 registered participants with some colleagues flying in from as far as China and Japan. This year, the conference was jointly hosted by The School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg (HGU), and Chalmers University of Technology.

The RESER conferences of 2010 and 2018 are special for me because the events seem to nicely bracket my career at HGU. My role at HGU spanned between executive management and research, where I began by being part of the RESER 2010 conference organizing and scientific committee. I find it surreal that organizing RESER 2018 and meeting with RESER colleagues is also one of the last memories that I bring with me about the Business School before moving on to join Nofima, the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research as Market Scientist at the Centre for Marketing Research located at its headquarters in Tromsø, Norway.

The annual 9th International Research Meeting in Business and Management (IRMBAM-2018) was held from 5 to 7 of July in the beautiful French Riviera city of Nice. The conference was jointly organized by an international coalition of the IPAG Business School of France, South Champagne Business School of France, the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, Canada, the University of Bern of Switzerland, and University of Nice Sophia Antipolis of France. The conference had 15 tracks covering a broad range of topics in economics, management and international business. Notable keynote speakers to this year’s conference in the field of management and entrepreneurship include, Professor David Allen from Neeley School of Business at the Texas Christian University located in Forth Worth, Texas, USA, and Professor Shaker Zahra from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, USA.

Which User of technology? Perspectivising the UTAUT model by application of the SFL language Pronoun System towards a systems perspective of technology acceptance and use

Abstract

This study applies systemic functional linguistics (SFL) as complementary framework of analysis of technology acceptance models (TAMs). The purpose is to bridge research methodology language in international business (IB) studies and engineering management science. Currently TAMs and its consolidated version, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) provides for a typology of one user in one context scenario. The need for the UTAUT model to account for multiple users in multiple work contexts in a single framework of analysis was foregrounded in the study of the workflow processes of a remote services business model of a European founded multinational business enterprise (MBE) with regards to its (i) intra-firm improvements in managing remote services cases, and its (ii) extra-firm selling of life cycle management remote services contracts. The Enterprise has global operations in over 100 countries, of which this study focused on its European operations of improving the quality of remote services for the marine industry. Through an application of SFL unto UTAUT, this study illustrates how multiple users in multiple contexts can be analysed simultaneously, and whose behaviours can be accounted for in a single framework of analysis. The combined SFL UTAUT model addresses the initial statisticity of the UTAUT model, whilst at the same time, expands upon current theoretical perspectives of technology use and acceptance that can be applied in practice.

Keywords

Research methodology, Unified theory of acceptance and use of Technology (UTAUT), Systemic functional linguistics (SFL), International business, Technology management, Remote service

Using systemic functional linguistics as method in identifying semogenic strategies in intercultural communication: A study of the collocation of “time” and “different” by Swedish managers with international management experiences

Abstract

Theoretical foundations to intercultural communication (ICC) are integrative and interdisciplinary but few have studied ICC from a systemic linguistics perspective. Viewing communication as a dialogic process, this study takes a systemic functional linguistics (SFL) view of language as a socialsemiotic where semogenesis (meaning making) is both construed and construed by context of situation which in turn is construed by culture. Using interview data collected from Swedish managers who have extensive international management experiences, this study aims to illustrate how SFL can be used as an adaptive theory and framework of discourse analysis in uncovering semogenic strategies in ICC processes.

My new e-book, Gothenburg in Asia, Asia in Gothenburg can be found at
https://www.books2read.com/b/kgot2021
https://www.books2read.com/kgot2021
206 pages [epub version]
ISBN 9781386553748

Abstract:

Gothenburg is located on Sweden’s west coast. The sea and an international orientation beckoned for this city, where it was harbour port and home to the Swedish East India Company during the 1700s. This book is part of a city initiative called Kunskap Göteborg 2021, in celebration of Gothenburg’s 400-years jubilee that takes place in 2021. This book is a collection of narratives and insights of those who had helped build the international orientation of Gothenburg from the early 1980s, focusing specifically on Gothenburg’s past, present and future ties with Asia, vice versa. The foundational research for this book in was made possible by a stipendium from the Foundation Anna Ahrenberg, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Global food demand is expected to rise by 35% by 2030 [1]. The demand in increased food supplies will need to come in the form of increased crop yields and/or a reduction in food waste. In view of keeping ecological balance with global nutrition needs in the upcoming deacades, there’s a general agreement that a transition from animal to plant-based protein supply is desirable [2-4], even if there is acknowledgement that the efficiency of the global food production system should not only be assessed as a function of the area of cultivated land but also in accordance to the amount of nutrients withdrawn and replaced from the soil [5].

In the days leading up to the New Year’s eve of 2017, I found myself revisiting what I wrote about the concepts of complexity and autopoiesis a few years ago.

The concept of autopoiesis, organisms as self-generating, was developed by Maturana and Varela [1,2] in the field of biology, primarily as a construct that enabled a distinction to be made between living and nonliving systems. Niklas Luhmann, in his turn adapted this concept from biological systems theory and generalized it for building a new social system theory.